The claims involve white slavery, sado-masochism, rapes, sex with minors, drug dealing and appalling brutality -- all in the heart of the government of one of France's most historic and most civilized cities.
The southern city of Toulouse, known as la ville rose because of its many sun-drenched Spanish-style buildings, has been scandalized by allegations that public officials protected a barbaric serial killer charged with murdering prostitutes recruited for orgies in the city's courthouse.
Though the accusations are unproved, Justice Minister Dominique Perben sacked Toulouse's prosecutor-general, Jean Volff, last week for covering up links between senior officials and the exploitation of vulnerable girls.
The allegations focus on the activities of Patrice Alegre, a convicted murderer awaiting trial for five other killings. Former prostitutes have claimed his activities were covered up.
A former mayor and three judges have come forward to give their version of events. In a TV appearance, the right-wing former mayor of Toulouse, Dominique Baudis, now head of a broadcasting watchdog, claimed he was being framed by pro-pornography lobbies who wanted to smear him for opposing the showing of X-rated material on national TV.
The three judges have also denied any involvement. They will be questioned about `acts of torture and barbaric acts, pimping and rapes of under-age girls'.
Detectives have reopened an investigation into the disappearance of 115 young women in the Toulouse area between 1986 and 1997, and are probing earlier claims that Alegre was paid to establish a prostitution network by respected local leaders.
According to various reports in the press, senior police officials covered up Alegre's role as a pimp in Toulouse.
The most startling accounts of sexual violence were given by a woman known as Patricia, 32, who went into hiding in 1992 after witnessing two murders.
She has told the examining magistrates that Alegre was in charge of recruiting prostitutes and organizing orgies. She identified men with whom she had sex at Toulouse's Palais de Justice and said sado-masochist orgies went on at a chateau owned by Toulouse council. She claimed she had witnessed the killing by Alegre of two girls he had recruited.
Another prostitute was allegedly strangled while being raped by Alegre in front of witnesses after she tried to alert police that a vice squad inspector was part of the white slave racket.
The other witness, known as Fanny, was 17 when she was forced into prostitution in 1990 after being recruited by Alegre who, for a time, worked in the police canteen.
She had also witnessed the second murder, but had kept quiet about Alegre's involvement until tracked down two years ago by a gendarmerie squad investigating the unsolved killings of prostitutes in Toulouse.
The appointment of Michel Barrau as prosecutor-general has concerned lawyers because he was credited with stopping an investigation into corruption among senior right-wing politicians in Paris before last year's general election.
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
‘A THREAT’: Guyanese President Irfan Ali called on Venezuela to follow international court rulings over the region, whose border Guyana says was ratified back in 1899 Misael Zapara said he would vote in Venezuela’s first elections yesterday for the territory of Essequibo, despite living more than 100km away from the oil-rich Guyana-administered region. Both countries lay claim to Essequibo, which makes up two-thirds of Guyana’s territory and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens. Guyana has administered the region for decades. The centuries-old dispute has intensified since ExxonMobil discovered massive offshore oil deposits a decade ago, giving Guyana the largest crude oil reserves per capita in the world. Venezuela would elect a governor, eight National Assembly deputies and regional councilors in a newly created constituency for the 160,000
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person